Rise of the Horde
by Joe JS Smitty
Summary: This really should be 'R', but nobody was going to check the 'R' section anyway. This is my tribute to the greatest species of either Rath, or Otaria. May not be liked by those with weak tastes.


Magic: The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast.

This is a tribute, so all characters herein you will not find in the M:TG storyline.  Rated R for violence and gory situations. 

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Rise of the Horde

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An elderly couple walk down a dirt path, leading an oxen-like creature down it as well.  The tall grass sways in the very gentle wind.  The hot sun beats down hard on them from up above.  The old man stops in the middle of the road.  It is hot, too hot.  He is just an old man, and can't go on much farther.  The creature stops behind him as well. Not known to be a very gentle species, this one has been a loyal companion of the old man for many a year.  Over the year, it has become as strong as any other creature of its size, but as gentle as a mystic's familiar.  The oxen nudges the old man in the back with one of its many horns, as his wife smiles gently, grabs the man's arm, and helps him continue the long journey.  Not much longer afterwards, they hear a voice.  It was soft at first, a gentle cooing sound as far as they could tell.  Then it grew louder, although somewhat far away.  It was clearly recognizable now, it was that of a crying infant.  The old man limped over the noise, and indeed, an infant, lying there in its bare body, was crying loudly.  The grass around its body was pressed down, as if on purpose for the baby to be set on.  As it opened it eyes, looking up at the old couple, the crying stopped, as the baby smiled up at the old couple.  It had been a while since the couple had taken a baby in their arms.  They had a daughter once, but she had abandoned them when she had fallen under Cabal influence, and now works as a pit fighter.  The couple had long forgotten how it felt to hold an infant in there arms.  And this poor creature, just lying there, obviously abandoned, looking up at this happy couple and smiling.  The old man smiled back, looked at his wife, and reached down to pick up the baby.

The ox then howled, frightened of something.  The old man jumped up and looked around.  The grass was swaying a little, but aside from that, there was nothing there.  The old man waited for a minute longer, listening for any noises.  But still nothing came.  He looked down at the child, still smiling up at him.  His heart took over once again.  As he placed his hands around the child's body, and began to pull him upwards, it, got stuck, so to say.  The man was slightly disoriented, the baby was stuck to the grass.  The man pulled harder on the baby, but still it was stuck.  He looked down at the baby, still smiling.  Then he heard it.  About two feet from his face, like a clicking sound almost.  A very fierce clicking sound.  The man then looked up, facing death.  It's smooth face was staring directly into the man's face.  No eyes, no lips, just a smooth curved face.  The man let go of the baby and fell backwards.  He realized what he had done, and was about to go to the baby again, but he noticed something odd.  The baby began to fade away.  No, meld into the creature.  As such was the grass, it's color turning into a light, pinkish color.  The man began to reel back on his hands, as the sliver's slick body flopped over to an upright position, and pounced on the man.  He began to yell in pain as his hands gripped the sliver's head.  He felt the scythe-like leg began to stab him repeatedly in the stomach.  Blood began to splatter all over the ground, as the man gave his last breath, and the last thing heard was a loud crunch of the sliver's jaw against his soft head.  The ox, scared at the arrival of the sliver, became furious with the death of his master, as it charged at it, sending it skidding across the ground.  It screeched it pain, flopping on the ground in a most painful manner.  The ox howled yet again, about to finish the job, before a sharp pain hit it from the side.  Another sliver had joined the fray.  Its body resembled that of the other sliver, but this one was more muscular, and was brownish-green in appearance.  The scythe protruded from the other side of the ox, as it hoisted itself off the ground so as not to get hit by the ox's horn.  Of which, the ox was bucking wildly, only hurting itself more.  Then the sliver then began to retch, as it opened its mouth, and acidic drool began to drip out of its mouth.  It burned on the ox's body, who was amazingly, still bucking out of rage.  The sliver let out one last long retch, before a medium sized ball of flesh launches itself from its mouth onto the ox's back.  The acid just created more steam against the ox, but the ball of flesh began to move.  It was another sliver.  A baby still, but it quickly felt the coursing blood of its nearby brethren, and began to adapt to their own unique skill.  It quickly crawled onto the back of the ox's neck, and its jaw came down hard on the ox's neck.  The scythe began to stab the ox in the neck, as both slivers gnawed on its back.  The ox couldn't take any more, and its bloody, battered body fell over on the ground, and died a most painful death.   
 The woman, the last one remaining, looked on in horror as the two slivers maliciously began to eat away at the ox's body.  The way they feasted upon it, one would think they hadn't eaten for days.  The woman had no choice but to run.  Her tears of her husband's death, and that of a dear pet, flowed like waterfalls from her eyes.  She ran as fast as she could, but she tripped.  She looked at her leg, and noticed that the first sliver was still alive, and its long winding tail had grabbed a hold of the woman's ankle.  She yelled, and cried as her weak arms desperately tried to loosen herself from the creature's grasp.  Pain finally overcame the sliver, as its grip loosened on the woman, and her ankle was free.  She tried to run again, her frail body struggling against her age.  But she didn't get very far.  It was at this time that a fourth sliver made the scene, right in front of the woman.  It was completely different from that of the others.  Its skin was rougher, its muscles bulged a little bit.  It's was almost human in comparison, but, than it wasn't.  There were two slits in its oblong head, that of eyes almost, and it had no scythe like leg, only, two large arms, with even larger hands.  It looked down at the woman, its mouth grinned widely, almost hungrily.  The woman broke down.  She began to cry, harder than before.  The sliver, with one arm, grabbed the woman by the head with just one hand, and lifted her up.  She just dangled there, her knees several inches off the ground.  It growled at her, before its other hand slowly grasped her shoulder, and the hand gripping her head moved to her other shoulder.  She looked at the sliver with terrified eyes, as it stared back at her.  It almost smiled at her.  The last thing she saw was a mouth full of teeth going right for her face.

  
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Not far from the scene, a large town lay flat among the grassy plains.  To one side about half a mile away, was a steep plateau, where the soil was so rich that grass even grew on it.  Although a steep hill so close to a town gives any invaders a slight advantage, it was a magnificent sight for couple, young and old, to trudge up it, so as to gaze out at the stars.  In the winter, children and their parents would build sleds out of pieces of lumber, and would slide down it for hours.

Meanwhile, down in the village, within the castle walls, a King and his advisors discuss important matters.

 "Also, my lord, there seems to be reports about people disappearing." One of the advisors said.

 "Disappearing?  By what do you mean?" He replied.

 "We do not know my lord," Another man spoke up, "It seems that people have been up and disappearing.  The only clue we have, is that all of the people reported missing, have left the castle walls."

 "Hmm…" The king folded his hands across his chin, "Do you think it could be the Cabal?"

An old man with a long beard, undoubtedly the king's wizard, and scholar, spoke up, "At the moment, that is the most likely situation.  However, we gave descriptions of the missing people to some of our spies that working within the Pit Fights, and they have not come up with any information thus far."

The king let out another sigh, then he looked up, across the table, to a man with thick black hair, a dark black mustaches, and wearing a white cloak and white armor.  He has a distraught look on his face, as it almost looks like he's contemplating something.

 "Darius?" The king called out to him.  Darius' eyes shot towards his direction, startled, he then nods at the king, "What seems to be troubling you my good friend?"

Darius rested his hand on his chin, and looked out a nearby window, "I do not know my lord.  This feeling, I don't quite understand it, but it feels as if something…big, is coming.  I can't explain it my lord." By this time, the king, and all of his advisors, were curious into what Darius was saying.  "What I can tell, this feeling inside of me, is that it isn't good.  Something's coming our way, and we, your entire country, is in danger."

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The wizard and three younger men, apprentices perhaps, trudged grudgingly down a long winding staircase.

 " Sir, is it true that the Cabal are behind all those disappearances?"

 "Of course not!" The wizard said, very irritated.  "I've been paying the Pit Masters loads of money from our own research funds to make sure they don't come near our citizens.  Not to mention more from my own pocket for experiments!" The apprentices flinched at the wizard's sudden outburst.  He looked at them in a pitiful way, before doing a double take, muttering, "Sorry." They continue to drudge down the long stairway, until they reach the bottom.  From there, they hastily make their way towards their underground laboratory, but a figure stops them.  He's tall, about as tall as the wizard himself.  He wore a shabby, grey looking robe, with his beard matching the same description as well. (No, this is NOT Gandalf the Grey. ^-^)

 "Cornelius…." The grey wizard spoke to him.

 "Adolph," The other one said curiously, "What seems to be the problem?" Adolph looked at him with concerned eyes. 

Cornelius was walking even faster, and even more aggressive, Adolph following not far behind, with the apprentices following him.

 "What do you mean the Riptide Project was a failure?!" Cornelius yelled at Adolph , "Before I left, everything was running accordance to plan!  The Riptide was in perfect balance!  There were no errors or bugs when I left!  All of the creatures were tightly sustained!"

 "Not all of them sir…." Adolph mumbled.  Cornelius halted in his tracks, and turned around to Adolph, a look of fear in his eyes.

 "Please tell me it wasn't the slivers…please tell me it wasn't them…."

Adolph, a look of sorrow, concern, and horror in his face, replied, "Yes sir…it was, the slivers."

Cornelius, unbelieving at first, stared with his mouth gaped open, than he plowed through Adolph and the apprentices, in a more panic than before.

 "How did they escape?!" He screamed.

 "The first one slipped through,"  Adolph replied, squeezing past the others, "When one of the new breed of slivers transformed into an apprentice working on the Project."

 "I never remember any of the new species being able to do that!"

 "All in all sir, there are about fifteen new breed of slivers that we know of." This stopped Cornelius dead in his tracks, Adolph gulped, "And we have no idea how many more there might be." Cornelius slowly walked down to Adolph's step, and looked him straight in the eyes.

 "Adolph, there were only three new recorded species when I left for studies.  That was only a month ago."

 "Right after you left sir, a new species popped up.  After a week, three more were found.  Two weeks after that, there were fifteen…that's when they attacked."

Cornelius couldn't believe his ears.  He wanted to stop listening right there, but there was no way this was going to be solved easily.  Then, something came to him.  All those missing people.  None disappeared while they were inside the towns wall, when they left however….no, it couldn't be.  Cornelius stormed up the stairs yet again, this time, he walked out onto the lobby of the castle.  He didn't want to hear anymore, but Adolph had one more thing to say.

 "And sir!" He yelled out, Cornelius stopped, and turned around, a look of anger and despair on Adolph's face, "I…wasn't…the first one sent by the wizards to inform you.  We've been trying to get a hold of you for over a week now…." He started to pant heavily.  Cornelius, his eyes bulging in fear yet again, stormed once more into the castle.

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Outside the town, two scraggily people, and a large beast walk up to its gates.  One of the guards, sitting near the gates, stops them.

 "State your name you two."

The two figures look up at the guard, their faces coming out of the shadow.  The guard nods, and knocks on the gates.  As they begin to open, the guard looks at the elderly couple, smiling, and says, "Welcome back you two." The couple walk past him, oxen in hand, not giving him any attention.  The gates closed behind them, and they had entered the town.

In the dirt streets, it is littered with many people of all sizes and colors.  Several dwarves have even made use to this reclusive town.  But the couple did not care.  They continued to walk onward, slowly, towards the large castle rested in the middle of the large town.

Back inside the castle, the King had just received the terrible news.  He looked worriedly outwards to the grassy plains through an opening in the castle walls.

 "Sire," Cornelius said, "What are we going to do?"

The King hesitated, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Tell me, just how powerful are these things?"

Cornelius looked to Adolph, who nodded, "Your Highness, separately, a sliver is just barely stronger than one of your guards, depending on the certain traits incorporated into its body.  However, in large groups, they can be near unstoppable.  Each sliver has its own unique ability built into its body.  And they share this with each of its brethren.  External glands on the slivers, creates an invisible genetic link with each other sliver nearby it.  Approximately at a hundred-yard radius.  Each sliver of those slivers within that radius gains the ability of that sliver."

 "And many different types of these slivers are there?"

 "On record sir…thirty species of sliver," the king sighed, "Five for each color of mana, and five slivers that share two friendly mana."

 "There is a way to stop them, isn't there?"

 "Well, it appears that taking them out one by one, has proved to be impossible.  However, they seem to be susceptible to mass destruction spells.  It is possible to stop any attempts at a siege by utilizing…."

 "MY LORD!  MY LORD!" A guard outside the throne room yells.  The doors slam open as a guard drags an injured man, and they both collapse in front of the throne.

 "My lord…." The guard yells, his armor clanging as he struggles to get him and the injured man up, "My lord, news from across the plains!  Most terrible news!"

The King, Cornelius, and Adolph both walk worriedly to them.  The injured man, his robes in a bloody mess, and his entire right arm missing, slowly reaches into his robe with his good arm, if you can call it one, and pulls out a crystal orb.  He holds it out to the king, and it begins to glow in a bluish aura.

 "My King…" the man says weakly, "my king…they're coming…something's coming…so…terrible…so…many…." The chokes, and falls limp, the orb clanging on the rock floor.  The guard, rights the man up, and places his ear to his chest, then looks to the King and shakes his head.  Cornelius, almost impervious to the man's death, reaches down and picks the orb up.  The aura hadn't faded, but now, a moving picture was happening.  Tall grass, similar to the grass on the large plains surrounding the town, swaying in the winds.  Then, they were trampled, by an onslaught of slivers.

Several hours later, and many excruciating searches going on, the King, Cornelius, and Darius find themselves outside the castle walls, perched on top of the hill overlooking their town.  With them, are several dozen wizards, and wizard apprentices.

 "Are you sure this will work old friend?" the King asks Cornelius.

 "I bet my life on it.  If my research is correct, they cannot be picked out one after another.  They will either regenerate, or will have some form on immunity to it.  A fire wall spell seems to be the right course of action.  And we will take all precautions to make sure that our spells to not stray past their designated destination."

 "I have full faith in you, Cornelius." The King replies.  With that, he climbs atop of a nearby horse, and with several guards, return back to the castle walls.  As they become little specks amongst the tall grass, Cornelius turns around, an extremely serious look on his face.  And walks over to Darius.  He nods, and Darius begins to yell at the top of his lungs, "LISTEN UP MEN!  What you are about to face, is a horde of the one of the most destructive species of monsters known to man!  They are ruthless!  They are merciless!  And they are deadly!  They think, plot, plan, and strategize!  However, they are also living beings!  And living beings all have a weakness!  They can all, die! They are NOT, immortal!  They are NOT, unstoppable!  AND WE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO DRIVE THESE HELL SPAWNS BACK TO THE PITS, WHERE THEY CAME FROM!" An enormous rallying call echoed throughout the lands.  Darius smiled to himself.  The troops were motivated.  Every wizard in these lands would gladly risking their lives to protect his homes.  "TODAY…!  WE WILL TRANSCEND MORTAL BOUNDRIES!  WE WILL CRUSH OUR FOES!  THESE HEATHENS WILL KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO TASE DEFEAT!" Another thundering cheer, but just as Darius was about to speak again, a call came out.

 "THEY'RE COMING!  THEY'RE COMING!  I CAN SEE THEM COMING!" A scout yelled.  There was a large clamor throughout the wizards, as scraping metal, and the crackling of mana rippled in the air.

 "CALM YOURSELVES!"  Darius yelled.  "They come!  WE FIGHT!" There was no cheering this time, as dozens of wizards lined themselves in two rows behind Cornelius.  Through small, tinted glasses, he glared at the horizon, as the first of the slivers jumped up from the top of the hill.  From far away, he could hear their terrible screeching and clicking noises.  But he didn't care.  He held his staff out in front of him, as he placed two fingers on his forehead.

 "Descravate…ichilimos trevand…." He chanted, and the wizards chanted back, "Tochoviase, harukana bata….oh God of Fire, Wind, and Water, give us your heavenly force this hour…." The slivers began to drew near, moving at near lightning speed.

 "We ask the power of destruction, to burn their bodies, and enflame their souls.  Their evil ways shall not be allowed to pass, oh mighty God!  Give us power!" The slivers were only a hundred yards away, and they weren't letting up.

 "OH POWERFUL GOD!  PROTECT US WITH FIRE!  AND LET US USE IT FOR OUR SALVATION!" As a gray colored sliver lunged at Cornelius, it was immediately killed as a humongous wall of flame lit up the area.  It's fires spread all around the town walls, encasing it, in a impenetrable wall of fire.  The sliver that had attacked first, broke it's neck ramming its head into the wall, but that wasn't it all.  Cornelius let out a mad yell, as the wall quickly began to move away from the town, incinerating the sliver, and all of its kind.  It quickly spread outwards, engulfing each sliver in its way.  Some turned and ran from it, some tried to plow straight on through, but when it was all said and done, there was nothing left standing.

A mighty roar of triumph overcame the hills once again, but Darius and Cornelius were less than happy.

 "Calm yourselves!" Darius yelled.  "It is not over yet!  That was merely the first wave!  You still have several more waves to deal with!" The roar turned into a whisper.  But there was no complaining.  Immediately following what Darius said, the second wave began to draw closer.  No larger or smaller than the first.  Everyone was in position again, as Cornelius proceeded to chant yet again.  Again, this was another successful cast, as the wall of fire erupted from nowhere, and began to shoot at the wave of slivers.

 "We're doing it…." Cornelius said to himself, then to the entire group of attackers, "WE'RE ACTUALLY DOING IT!"

The front slivers lowered their heads, and they broke through the wall as if it were paper.

The King hurriedly walked towards the throne room.  Although he had trusted what Cornelius had told him, he had just felt a cold shiver.  Something was wrong.  His footsteps echoed throughout the desolate hallway.  As he neared the throne room, the guards present at the doors nodded courteously, and was about to let him in.  Then a brilliant flash came from inside the room, and electrical charges were heard from the other side of the door.  The King shield his eyes, then burst into the room.  There in front of him, was Cornelius and Darius, badly beaten.

 "My god…what happened?!" He yelled.  Darius looked up at him, then fell to one knee in pain.   
"I'm sorry…there were…it was, they became immune, to the spells.  It was horrible.  It wasn't just a defeat, my Lord." Cornelius said, tears in his eyes "It was a slaughter."

 "Then we haven't much time!" The King yelled, "They will be upon us in a matter of minutes!  We must muster our forces and meet them head on!"

 "I got a better idea my Lord." Cornelius spoke with that same stern assurance.

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Now, once again, Cornelius took to the use of his magics.  He teleported to the very top of the castle, a quite spectacular view for those fortunate enough to produce powerful enough mana to make such a climb.  He took his staff in both hands once again, but this time, raised it high in the air.  With the last of his powers, a bright light shone forth from the top of his staff.  It only grew brighter.  There was a flash of light, and slowly, a blue, transparent veil began to unfold across the town.  The people in the village, whom had taken up various weapons and gardening tools, watched in amazement as the veil unfolded way about their heads.  In gently lowered to the ground, where it soon encased the entire town, just to the middle of the walls surrounding it.  The walls then turned into an impenetrable fortress, no different looking than before, except the bluish haze now gathered around the edges of the brick, steel and wood.  Now nothing could get in.  Cornelius nearly fainted from exhaustion right there, but he caught himself, and once again, disappeared in a bright blue flash.

Just outside the castle, the guards are in an uproar.  Morals are down, and there are doubts that this new wall would work.  But some are still hopeful, and those that aren't, or are indifferent, take up arms and rush to the city's gates.  However, because of their imperious rushing, they do not notice the mangled body of Adolph lying behind a shrubbery.

Back in the throne room, the King waits impatiently for the return of Cornelius.  He looks up at Darius with a look of concern.

"Are you alright Darius?  You've been awfully quiet."  Darius nodded, still looking rather unsure.  The King frowned, not truly believing him.  Then Cornelius, in a pillar of blue light, appeared on the scene.  He looked exhausted, but even in his perpetual weakness now, he was still strong in will.  He struggled to right himself, and brushed off his robes.  Then he walked outwards to the opening in the castle walls, as he looked down at the town below.

"Cornelius…." The King said sorrowfully, then he smiled, putting his trust back in his lifelong friend.  "I assume the spell is in place.  They won't be getting into this one."

"There is no way they can." Cornelius said, "Although this won't kill them like the other wall, this wall is permanent, and cannot be…."

The doors opened again, everyone shifted their attention to Adolph, as he stood peering behind the door.

"Ah yes, Sir Adolph," The King said, Adolph slowly walked into the room and closed the door behind him, "I must say, my good sir, from what Cornelius has told me, that we are lucky to have you on our side." Adolph looked up at him, not smiling, not frowning, a pure emotionless face.  As he walked past the throne, his eyes met with Darius, and then quickly parted, as he stood several yards behind Cornelius.

"Yes…it sure is good to have you here by my side," Cornelius commented, then turned to the town again, "As I was saying my Lord, the wall will give us enough time for us to gain reinforcements.  And there is no way anyone can break through it from the outside.  It can only be broken from magic, or from the outside."

Down at the walls, the slivers plow mercilessly into the shielded wall.  From atop the wall, the guards look curiously at them, as the ram their heads into the brick wall.  Were it not for the mere numbers of them, they would be laughing.  Then, out of the blue, they stopped.  Dead in their tracks.  They just stared into the blankness of the wall, not making a move.  They began to move in circles, small ones, just as if they were becoming impatient about something.  No attacks, no defenses.  Just watching the wall.

"What are they doing?" Cornelius said aloud.

Near the gates, about a hundred and fifty yards away, the old couple from before stood in the middle of street.  Staring dead straight into the timbers of the castle gates.  They took a step forward, for someone of old age, they walked as if they were in perfect health.  They started walking faster toward the wall, they jogged, they ran, into a full out sprint.  From the sides of the street, those who knew them, even those that didn't, were awestruck.  Two feeble looking people running at full sprint towards the wall, were it not for the horror that was about to happen, that they would call this a miracle.  People, lampposts, and entire houses went by like a blur to the couple, but as they passed in front of a lamppost, people saw why they could perform such amazing technique.  They were slivers.  One of them, was a sliver from before, possibly the same sliver that was the death of the old man, its pinkish skin, the large tentacles and the one scythe, but the other one was completely different.  It was an orangish-brown in color, and although its basic body frame and head were similar to the other one, it was larger, and giant spikes protruded from its head and back.  They were running full sprint at the door now, nothing was going to stop them.  They burst through the gates, sending a spray of wood shards, large and small.  The slivers outside the wall, seemingly peaceful almost from the outside, snapped to attention as they rushed into the gap in the wall, their violent tendencies taking control once again as the massacre proceeded.

Cornelius' eyes bulged in horror.  At every turn, there was always something there to stop them.  The King saw the horror in his face, and knew the worst had happened.  Tears ran down his cheeks, as his fist clenched tightly.

Cornelus was about to burst into tears, then he felt the assuring hand of Adolph on his shoulder.  He glanced back at him, and relaxed a little, knowing that his friend was here with him.  Then the doors burst open.

"YOUR HIGHNESS! YOUR HIGHNESS!" The page screamed, "YOUR HIGNESS!  SIR ADOLPH HAS BEEN KILLED!"

"What?!"  
"WE JUST FOUND HIS BODY SIR!  IT LOOKED AS IF A WILD BEAST ATTACKED THEM!  IT'S A MOST DISGUSTING SIGHT!"

All eyes focused on the Adolph in the room.  Cornelius shivering in horror.  Adolph smiled a most evil smile, and wound up for his attack.  The large scythe-like arm that seemed to be a common occurrence around these parts, appeared out of nothingness, and speared Cornelius right through the back.  He gasped in pain, as the large blade grew a full three feet out of his stomach.  Blood began to run down his mouth, as his grip on the edge of the wall strengthened, then weakened.  He fell forward, his bloody body hanging out the window like an ornament.

The fake Adolph, with his evil eyes, looked coldly at Cornelius' dead body.  His human form started to fade away, and the same pinkish skin formed .  The King burst out of his chair, drawing his sword in a mad rage.

"VILE BEAST!  PREPARE TO…." His words were silenced as he felt a large hand wrap clear around his neck.  Over to his right, Darius, his hand extended onto the King's throat, smiled wickedly.  "D-D-Darius…?" He said astoundingly.  Darius shook his head, as his hand began to fade away, a pinkish tentacle phased in.  He leaned in close to the King's face, his lips drawing an evil smile, then, he said, "Livish beishes, all hashe a viesheness."  The King's eyes widened in terror, as Darius's face disappeared, being replaced by the smooth curves of a sliver, "Shey all, DIE!"

The tentacle tightened around the King's neck, as it began to overlap itself.  The sliver then jumped up onto the wall, it's scythe protruding into the wall.  It made a series of jumps and pulls, ripping its arm out, then quickly slamming it back into the wall, until the King was dangling off the ground.  He gasped, as he felt the tentacle tightened.  His face began to turn blue, as he thrashed around effortlessly.  He heard the scream of the young page, as he was being devoured alive from the other sliver.  Apparently he had tried to save the King.  But another quick jolt to the neck made him realize of his current situation.  Like any other man being strangled, he did the only thing he could do, he panicked.  He thrashed violently, but still, the sliver did not let go.  It didn't even try to.  As the lack of oxygen slowly began to destroy this man's brain, his body fell limp, and he died, after a long and perilous fight.

Meanwhile, forces on the outside, were also falling.  Some not quite as violent as the King, some worse.  Slivers were pouring into though the gap in the gate like water, of all different colors and sizes.  Swords clashed hopelessly on the thick hide of the slivers, and those that did penetrate and dealt damage to the sliver, were only healed in a matter of time.  Soldiers, however, were falling like flies.  As the slivers poured into the town, they immediately took the offensive, attacking every nearby human being.  Women and children were hunted down like it was deer season.  Men who had taken arms were dealt with most harshly.

A child ran down the streets, crying madly.  Behind him, a slick black sliver hustled to his location.  The kid, with his short legs, ran helplessly down the maddening street.  He slipped and fell, scraping his knees.  He cried louder, as the sliver skidded to a halt behind the kid, and he began to slice away at the kids back.

A woman is also in the same predicament, this time, the sliver looked more fanciful, with two elongated tentacles for movement, and a stylish exoskeleton mark on its back.  It flung out one of its long tentacles at the woman, knocking her over.  It raised high up into the air, looking down on the woman.  An arrow flew by its head, distracting it for a minute.  It looked behind it, to see a man holding up a bow and arrow set, but he was meaningless to the sliver, as it knocked him away with one of its tentacles.  It looked back to the woman, only to see that she had began to run again.  But this didn't bother the sliver.  It leapt an amazing distance, it's tentacles catching hold of a lamppost several yards in front of the woman.  She stopped dead in her tracks, as the sliver lunged its body at hers.

Screams of death reverberated throughout the town.  High whines of that of woman and child.  Painful gasps of men, and sometimes a stomach sickening blood gurgle.  Several men had an idea, as they tried to patch together the opening in the gates, preferably with some magic.  It almost seemed to work.  Until the acidic slivers arrived.  They sacrificed their bodies, plowing them into brick walls, so that their blood may eat away, and destroy the wall with ease.  This created new tunnels for the slivers, and soon, large numbers of slivers began to destroy the wall, and more and more began to pile in.

The wizards then tried to set loose several creatures they had kept contained within the castle walls.  Some weren't special, giant spiders, several kavu's, and even an elephant.  But none were as mystical, than that of the fabled force of nature.  It roared a terrible roar, as it swung its arm at ground level, clearing away human and sliver alike.  But even it, in its sheer brutality, could not compare to the might of the sliver horde.  Sliver after sliver began to jump on the force's body, their arms stabbing it deep in its body.  It managed to grab several, and fling them like rag dolls, but several slivers, all powered by the horned sliver, rammed their heads into its side, causing it to collapse, and they were on him like a pack of dogs.  Luckily, or unluckily, slivers weren't omnivorous, so they just tore it to shreds.

There was no chance for them.  The remaining humans were being slaughtered.  A sliver fell on to its back, its tentacle pushing an old woman onto its arm.  It was a knife to butter.  The sliver held the dying woman on its arm like a trophy, raising her screaming body high into the air.  Further away, a man swings his sword wildly, keeping the slivers at bay for some time.  Although more fascinated by this strange animals defense habits, the slivers soon gained another reason why to stay away.

"What's the matter?!" The man yelled, "Are you chicken?!  You fucking things better not try to mess with…."

The wall behind him burst in an explosion, although knocked back, he stood upright.  He shrugged it off, and looked at the cause, first furious, then frightened.  It was larger than any sliver he had seen, and more bizarre, make that horrifying, as well.  Three heads looked down at him like lunch, three large scythes waited anxiously to make quick works out of his fragile body.  There were no tentacles, but it didn't need any.  The ultimate sliver in Otaria had been created, the Sliver Overlord.  It bent down oddly, just enough to where the middle scythe caught the man in the heart.  It lifted the shocked man up, before the three heads began to savagely bite off large chunks and limbs.

There was only one person left, a teenage boy.  He had tried to run from the town, only to be stopped by about a dozen or so slivers.  They effortlessly knocked him to the ground, and soon began to divide his body amongst them.  The last thing the boy, saw, through blood soaked eyes, was a massive sliver coming his way.  It was being escorted by another dozen or so slivers, all of them having a crystal form body.  The sliver had two scythes the size of about ten slivers at least.  It's neck ran the normal of any other sliver, but its body was a massive mess of flesh, all fresh, spiny, and deadly.  The boy died soon afterwards.

The slivers had moved in.  This was their place now.  Here, they would start a new life, one different from that back on Rath.  They would be the dominant rulers of this plane.  However, this was not an attempt at finding a nesting grounds, that would be foolish.  This wasn't even a threat against the human race, that was even more foolish.  No, this was nothing more, than an expansion.  Their lands were quickly getting used up, and there was no where else left for them to go.  Luckily for them, a near powerless town was close by, so why not take the opportunity to make their mark in the world, not to mention to score a few snacks.

Beware of the dangers of the slivers.  The slivers are expanding, moving onward.  They cannot be stopped by mere mortal force.  They will quickly ravish this land of all its components, unless drastic steps are taken to stop there fearsome beasts.

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End

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No, I am not in a bad mood, I am actually in a very good mood, now that I have found out about the new slivers.  It took me a while to get the news, because I had recently gotten back into M:TG, just in time for Legions and Scourge I see.  This was a dark fic, and violent at that.  It was how it was intended to be.  Thank you for your time.  And sleep with one eye open.


End file.
